Melchiah
King Melchiah is the regent sovereign ruler of Iruel City and the few villages encompassed by its rule. Once a faithful servant of Moriya and ruler of its duchy of Euphorya, he has abdicated his position to take up the mantle of leadership in Iruel following its destruction in the aftermath of the war. Character Melchiah is a polite but determined man, willing to brave hardship and challenges to reach his goals. Taught from a young age to adhere to a strict code of faith and morality, he has always sought to pursue a benevolent and just existence. Melchiah treats all he comes across with kindness and respect, but can grow cross with those who do not return his courtesy. Above all else, Melchiah seeks to protect his family, from both real and intangible threats. His children are his treasures, and he does all he can to ensure that they know a safe and righteous existence. Melchiah is also a devoted and chaste man, able to resist the temptations that others fall prey to which cause turmoil in their lives. History Before Ever'let Melchiah was inducted into the Holy Order at a young age. By age 14 he was a fully trained paladin, and by 16 was placed in an elite squad with experienced paladins like Turel and Dumah. He acted in this role for several years, expanding Iruel's influence and being part of missions that included rescuing Leah from her enslavement as well as several missions to obtain relics that would allow Iruel to tap the power of the fabled Angels through the use of the Ascension Device. Recognizing the potential of his young charge, Dumah had petitioned for Melchiah to take part in an experiment designed by the Archbishop at the time that would attempt to harness the power of an Angel. Only a few select candidates were chosen after strict trials, with Melchiah among the top choices. Little was known about the experiement, aside from the notion that a host would be given a fraction of an Angel's power, thereby making his abilities much more powerful. To date, there had not been a successful attempt, and while those close to Melchiah were wary of his participation, he showed complete faith in Iruel's leadership and accepted their plans for him. The experiment had, however, gone awry. Melchiah's body had not been strong enough to contain the portion of Ramiel's power it was given, and the resulting backlash destroyed the Ascension machine and damaged Melchiah's memory. His personality, once daring and impetuous, had become much more subdued, and his command over what remained of the Angelic power he was given was unreliable and carried risks of damaging his mind and body further. He had no recollection of his life prior to the experiment, forgetting even the comrades he had grown up with in the Order. Feeling guilty for subjecting his pupil to this fate, Dumah decided to watch over Melchiah at a monastery near the border of Iruel's controlled territories during his rehabilitation. The Ascension experiements were deemed to be a failure, and the device was disposed of. Melchiah was removed from the roster of active paladins and the secrets of accessing his Angelic powers remained with Dumah alone. Leaving Iruel and life in Ever'let The monastery eventually was tasked with attempting to cure a young Serra of what her father believed to be possesion by some sort of demon. When news had arrived in Ever'let of their failure to cure her, Grom journied to Iruel with Keira, Drake, and Wren, to whom Grom was married to at the time. Upon their arrival, Melchiah initially attacked Drake, sensing the demon within him, but was convinced not to act by Keira and the others. During their time at the monastery, Melchiah became fast friends with Keira, and gave her a small charm as a token of their friendship when she left with Serra and the others. He later appeared in Ever'let, discharged from his duties at the monastery by Dumah, who felt that his former pupil would be able to have a fulfilling life among friends. He had greeted Keira first, telling her that they would always be close. His move to Ever'let also pleased Serra who, though only a young girl at the time, had developed feelings for him during her time at the monastery. Melchiah took a position in the village's church, providing sermons and tutelage in religious studies to those who requested it. Keira had eagerly become one of his students, and though he proved to be a good teacher at first, their time together eventually turned to romance, where her sessions were usually passed in his arms in a back room of the church. Melchiah knew it was wrong to act this way with a married woman and expressed his concern to Keira, but she explained it away as being harmless wood elven playfulness. It was not long before Melchiah and Keira's feelings for each other became stronger. Having already taken a second husband in Grom, Keira asked Drake's permission to marry Melchiah as her third, to which he reluctantly agreed for the sake of her happiness. This led to Melchiah's first marriage, though he had his reservations about sharing his wife. He was still very subdued at this point, however, and did not speak out against it, choosing instead to cherish the time he had with Keira, though it was often less than what Grom and Drake took. He would often find himself in the company of Grom's second wife at the time, Wren, and assisted her in many of the household chores to support the growing family. A few months after this, Drake fell under control of the demon which posessed him due to an increased amount of activity practicing dark magic and fled Ever'let. Melchiah sent for Dumah, and along with Grom and many soldiers, set out to recover him. Drake had proven to be a powerful foe in his demon form, and Dumah was forced to undo the seal which bound Melchiah's latent angelic powers in order to defeat him. Melchiah manifested Ramiel's power, developing wings made of blinding light and overpowered Drake's dark power to defeat him and send the demon into remission. Dumah sealed both Ramiel and the demon afterwards, but the overflow of power damaged Melchiah's body severely. He spent months recovering in the infirmary, with no memory of his battle with Drake. The Great War and Aftermath During the Great War, Melchiah served as a paladin once more, proving expecially potent against the undead minions that the North Kingdom summoned. He had been stationed at the main war front with Kendall's forces, and had expressed a desire to return to Ever'let in order to see Keira given their overwhelming success at holding back the enemy's advances. Kendall denied him each time, explaining that he had to grow accustomed to being away from his wife, just as Kendall had grown used to being away from Ana, even though a sparsely defended Ever'let had been attacked by smaller groups from the enemy army. The armies eventually united at a fort previously held by their enemies. Here, they dug in for several weeks preparing for the final push to topple the evil king and end the war. Keira had traveled here from Ever'let with her brothers to be with her husbands. Melchiah spent much time with her here, which increased the paranoia and feelings of jealousy in Drake, who had come under the influence of a succubus that served the demon that once possessed him. Drake's behavior grew increasingly suspect, and Melchiah followed him into the forest one day where he saw him engaged in a fight with the succubus, Sirene. Not knowing that Sirene's life was tied to Drake's, he ruthlessly attacked her. The fight quickly turned in his favor, but as he prepared to deliver a killing blow, Drake betrayed and stabbed him in an effort to preserve his own life. Melchiah was feared dead, but lived thanks to the healing efforts of Thurrin and Mira. He was left in a comatose state, however, unable to warn the others of Drake's treachery until Thurrin helped Keira enter Melchiah's dreams in order to communicate with him. This information would be used to once again summon Dumah from Iruel to stop Drake. Appearance Melchiah is a lean and slightly taller than average man with yellow-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He normally elects to dress casually, but modestly, opting for an unadorned priest's robe during his days in Ever'let, or an otherwise unremarkable long tunic as civilian attire. When in battle, his paladin uniform is modeled after the armor worn by the paladins of The Holy Order. It consists of a long clean white tunic and pants with a collared drape over the shoulder guards. On the front of the tunic is bolted a blue tabard shaped in the form of the Holy Order's symbol. The tabard is bisected at his waist by a belt and ends in a tapered V at knee length. Blue cloth covers his bracers and boots, held in place by smaller belts. Abilities Equipment Melchiah's weapon is a relic of The Holy Order in the form of a sword named "Rage of Angels." It is imbued with the element of lightning to match his magical affinity. Like all relic weapons of the Holy Order, the sword has been known to change size and shape during life changing moments in the user's life, or when passed on from one owner to the next. For Melchiah, Rage of Angels has always manifested as a long double-edged blade, though its thickness, design, and weight have varied depending on his level of power. Melchiah also possesses several scrolls and charms which aid him in his holy magic. The charms are usually in the form of symbols of his faith and have been used to contact allies or counter dark magic. Category:Characters